Table Of ContentW ’ s h
hitechapel s herlock olmes
DICK KIRBY
has also written
Rough Justice – Memoirs of a Flying Squad Detective
‘… the continuing increase in violent crime will make many readers yearn for
yesteryear and officers of Dick Kirby’s calibre’. POLICE MAGAZINE
The Real Sweeney
‘Its no-nonsense portrayal of life in the police will give readers a memorable literary
experience’. SUFFOLK JOURNAL
You’re Nicked!
‘In You’re Nicked! he describes his hair-raising adventures … with an equal measure of black
humour and humanity’. NEWHAM RECORDER
Villains
‘This is magic. The artfulness of these anti-heroes has you pining for the bad old days’.
DAILY SPORT
The Guv’nors – Ten of Scotland Yard’s Greatest Detectives
‘They were heroes at times when heroes were desperately needed’. AMERICAN POLICE
BEAT
The Sweeney – The First Sixty Years of Scotland Yard’s
Crimebusting Flying Squad 1919–1978
‘It’s a rollercoaster ride; detectives took crime by the scruff of its neck and wouldn’t let go’.
EAST ANGLIAN DAILY TIMES
Scotland Yard’s Ghost Squad – The Secret Weapon against Post-
War Crime
‘… the fascinating true story of a talented squad of gang-busting detectives who were there
when special deeds were essential. Dick Kirby … knows how to bring his coppers to life on
the page’. JOSEPH WAMBAUGH, AUTHOR OF THE CHOIRBOYS
The Brave Blue Line – 100 Years of Metropolitan Police Gallantry
‘Through a series of gripping, individual stories … the author highlights the incredible
courage often shown by officers on the front line’. DAILY EXPRESS
Death on the Beat – Police Officers Killed in the Line of Duty
‘… another book by the redoubtable Dick Kirby … Nobody reading this book can fail to
be sobered and impressed by the courage and humanity of the men and women working to
keep our streets safe for us’. HISTORY BY THE YARD WEBSITE.
The Scourge of Soho
‘A gripping story, superbly told by a former Met policeman, turned crime writer.’ BERTRAM
BOOKS
WHITECHAPEL’S
SHERLOCK HOLMES
, --
the casebook of fred wensley obe kpm
victorian crimebuster
DICK KIRBY
First published in Great Britain in 2014 by
Pen & Sword True Crime
an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S70 2AS
Copyright © Dick Kirby 2014
ISBN 978 1 78383 179 1
The right of Dick Kirby to be identified as the Author of
this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the
British Library
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical including photocopying,
recording or by any information storage and retrieval
system, without permission from the Publisher in writing.
Typeset in Plantin by
Mac Style Ltd, Bridlington, East Yorkshire
Printed and bound in the UK by CPI Group (UK) Ltd,
Croydon, CR0 4YY
Pen & Sword Books Ltd incorporates the imprints of
Pen & Sword Archaeology, Atlas, Aviation, Battleground,
Discovery, Family History, History, Maritime, Military,
Naval, Politics, Railways, Select, Transport, True Crime,
and Fiction, Frontline Books, Leo Cooper, Praetorian
Press, Seaforth Publishing and Wharncliffe.
For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact
PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED
47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS,
England
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
Contents
Acknowledgements viii
Author’s Note ix
Chapter 1 Beginnings 1
Chapter 2 Whitechapel 8
Chapter 3 Detective 14
Chapter 4 Learning Curve 24
Chapter 5 Detective Sergeant (Third-Class) 33
Chapter 6 Shootings and Mayhem 40
Chapter 7 The Embryo Flying Squad 48
Chapter 8 Murder and Gang Warfare in the East-End 64
Chapter 9 Gangsters from Eastern Europe 72
Chapter 10 Overlook Nothing! 79
Chapter 11 Conmen & Screwsmen 89
Chapter 12 Murders – Pointless & Squalid 98
Chapter 13 The Guv’nor 110
Chapter 14 Sailors and Prostitutes 123
Chapter 15 Anarchy 132
Chapter 16 The Man on Clapham Common 147
Chapter 17 Harding v Wensley: Round Two 166
Chapter 18 Chief Detective Inspector 174
Chapter 19 ‘Blodie Belgiam’ 184
Chapter 20 The Flying Squad 189
vi Whitechapel’s Sherlock Holmes
Chapter 21 The Star-Crossed Lovers 199
Chapter 22 Chief Constable of the CID 208
Chapter 23 The Body in the Trunk 216
Chapter 24 Scandals 221
Chapter 25 Time to Book off Duty 233
Epilogue 239
Bibliography 241
Index 244
The book is dedicated to my late father,
Charles Albert Kirby, who
in common with the other East End street urchins
irreverently referred to Wensley as
‘Old Boot-Nose’.
He also got too close to proceedings at the Siege of Sidney Street
and was clipped round the ear by a Scots Guardsman for his
impetuosity.
God bless his memory.
Acknowledgements
F
irst and foremost, I would like to thank Brigadier Henry
Wilson of Pen & Sword Books for his unfailing enthusiasm
and assistance. Next, my sincere thanks to my friend and
fellow author, Stewart Evans, for his hospitality and enormous
kindness in providing me with the vast majority of the photographs
which feature in this book. The same applies to my friend of many
years standing, Alan Moss, not only for providing photographs but
also for his untiring and meticulous research, to which I am hugely
indebted. I am most grateful to Donald Rumbelow for permitting
the use of the photographs of the Houndsditch anarchists, and also
to Delia Lorenson and Robert Clack for the use of the photograph
of Stephen White. Every effort has been made to trace the copyright
holders of the few remaining photographs, and the publishers and
I apologise for any inadvertent omissions.
I would also like to thank Stefan Dickers of the Bishopsgate
Institute, Paul Dew of the Metropolitan Police Historic Collection,
Dr David Robinson, Bob Morris, David Whillock, Keith Skinner
and George Chamier, my lynx-eyed editor, for their assistance.
I am indebted to my daughter, Sue Cowper, and her husband
Steve for coming to the rescue when I was in danger of drowning
in cyber-land, and also for the love and support of their children,
Emma, Jessica and Harry, as well as my other daughter, Barbara
Jerreat, her husband Rich and their children, Samuel and Annie
Grace, and my two sons, Mark and Robert.
Most of all, my thanks go to my wife Ann for her unquestioning
love and support, which has endured for over fifty years.
Dick Kirby
Suffolk, 2014
Author’s Note
T
he Sunday Express described Wensley as ‘Sherlock Holmes
in real life’, and at first glance this could be dismissed
as pure press hyperbole. Holmes was a fictional private
detective who lived in Baker Street; Wensley, a public servant who
lived in Whitechapel. In addition, Holmes was a bachelor who
played the violin, infrequently injected himself with a 7 per cent
solution of cocaine and in solving the most improbable crimes did
his best to make Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard look like a
halfwit.
But although Wensley would ironically say in later years that,
unlike his fictional counterpart, he was unable to deduce the
identity of a murderer by looking at a burnt matchstick, the two
did have some traits in common. Both men utilised informants,
disguises and logical reasoning. Both were pipe smokers and had
a flair for showmanship. Neither man wasted time on rhetoric. ‘He
speaks with blunt vigour and stops when he has finished,’ was how
Wensley was described.
Holmes and Wensley could both be relied upon to acquit
themselves nobly in a rough-house, with the private detective
relying on Bartitsu – a combination of ju-jitsu, boxing and cane
fencing – whereas Wensley used his fists. He was described as being
‘a rare physical fighter when criminals showed fight’.
The similarities, such as they were, ended there. Holmes
sometimes used firearms; Wensley abhorred them. And Holmes
was prone to using a riding crop, whereas Wensley found himself
on the receiving end of one.
* * *
Wensley knew the streets and the villains of the Whitechapel area
inside out, as few other police officers did. The Jewish community
experienced great difficulty pronouncing his surname so they
referred to him as ‘Mr Venzel’. Wensley’s nickname was ‘Weasel’,
and nowadays this epithet, together with its derivative, ‘weasel
words’, is used to describe someone who is not to be relied
upon. But a weasel is an animal noted for its ferocity in attacking
inoffensive rabbits and poultry; and tempering that description to
